"Matthew go home." It was Friday night and Matthew had spent the past couple days avoiding his cabin and Gilbert like the plague. That meant that Arthur had been seeing a lot of him and as much as he enjoyed the presence of his friend, it was getting a little pathetic watching him try to hide out there all day.

"But check out this cool youtube video first." Arthur had watched so many youtube videos in the past week he considered buying youtube only to crush it's existence so he would never have to see another video of a baby lion meeting it's father or a proposal flash mob or obscure foreign music video ever again.

"No Matthew. We have class at 8 am and I would like to actually get some sleep tonight." Not to mention Arthur had a big day ahead of him and, unbeknownst to him, so did Matthew. "You should go back to your cabin. Don't you have a billionaire to babysit?"

Matthew jumped at the mention of Gilbert. He felt incredibly guilty neglecting his job, but honestly Gilbert hadn't been an issue lately in that aspect. He had spent a lot of time focusing on his music which was a lot less pleasant than it actually sounded. Matthew didn't know that it was even possible for a human to play drums for 24 hours straight but either Gilbert had proved him wrong or his first crush had just gotten a lot weirder than he anticipated. "I guess. I'll just have to show it to you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you can show it to me after dinner." Arthur was almost pushing Matthew out the door at this point.

"Wait dinner? I thought we were going to spend the night in. Watch a movie. Play some board games." Matthew didn't really want another night out on the town.

"I know but I already made the reservations. It's just a couple of friends, just you, me, Yao, Kiku, Francis-" Arthur started.

"Francis?" Matthew interrupted. "You two have been spending a lot of time together is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Believe me, Francis is nothing more than an unfortunate circumstance." Arthur risked giving away his intentions but he would be plan or not it would be a cold day in hell before he let anyone get away with implying that he and Francis were. . . romantically involved. "Can we just do this? I already promised them I would go and it would be nothing without you there."

"I guess, but we get to hang out afterwards." Matthew was really bad at saying no to things. It wasn't necessarily that he didn't want to go, but an upscale dinner at an upscale restaurant wasn't going to help him forget about his upscale love interest.

"Great, so I'm going to meet you there, I have something to do beforehand." Which wasn't entirely true. "But if you still want to hang out afterwards if you want."

While he wouldn't admit it, Matthew was secretly a bit proud of himself for being able get himself all dressed and in a cab to the city without anyone's help. He even learned a new way to tie his tie because apparently his basic four-in-a-hand not was not going to cut it in the big city. But when he got to the restaurant and asked for the table under the name "Bonnefoy" the table was surprisingly small. Also empty.

Matthew immediately felt sick to his stomach. Was this a joke? Were they just pretending to be friends with him this entire time and were now just going to stand him up in order to humiliate him. He also couldn't afford to get an entree at this restaurant and cab fare. It was a mistake going to the restaurant. It was a mistake going to camp. It was all just a mistake.

"Matthew?" His thoughts were interrupted. "Where is everyone else?"

It was Gilbert Beilschmidt.

Of course it was fucking Gilbert Beilschmidt. Despite his best efforts to be annoyed by the sudden German invasion, his heart began to beat at a rate that was probably faster than what was healthy. He shoved all his potential giddiness down in the special place when he hid all of his emotions that he didn't want to feel. Maybe he could fit it in between Alfred's middle school choir concert and the entirety of 3rd grade.

Gilbert took a seat. He was there and he was hungry. "Well we might as well eat. Last one here takes the entire bill."

"Hate to break it to you but it looks like we're the only ones coming." Matthew responded as he received a text message from Arthur apologizing that he wasn't going to make it. This was clearly a set up to make him talk to Gilbert.

"Well then I guess Dad's credit card it is." Gilbert replied nonchalantly. It had been a week since the almost-kiss and it was probably time to get over the awkwardness between the two of them.

A waiter came by with a bottle of wine that looked very expensive. "This was purchased for you by a Francis Bonnefoy." He poured two glasses of wine. "Can I get you anything to start."

Matthew looked at the menu in confusion. There weren't any prices listed on the menu which was concerning and in terms of appetizers he didn't exactly know the difference between a canape and hors d'oeuvre. Salad seemed safe. "Could I, um, get the house salad to start?"

Gilbert ordered too and the waiter left. They sat in awkward silence for a little while. Matthew stared at his wine, unsure of what to do. He took a large sip and started coughing. "It's a bit dry."

"It's sort of an acquired taste." Gilbert chuckled softly, diffusing some of the tension. "Try a small sip first."

"Why are they even serving us alcohol. They didn't even ask to see our ID's." Matthew had had some beer and cheap wine in the past and even drank a little last time he went to dinner with Gilbert but really wasn't a heavy underage drinker.

"At an expensive place like this they aren't going to risk offending someone by carding. Moreover if someone is able to afford a place like this when they are under the age of 21, they probably aren't too concerned about getting a minor." What Gilbert said made sense. It seemed like with a little bit of money you could get away with anything, granted what Gilbert said wasn't "just a little bit."

The tension began to defuse after that exchange. It was almost as if Matthew forgot that he was supposed to be nervous. Gilbert, on the other hand, felt a weird sensation that he hadn't ever really felt before. He'd been grappling with his feelings too since Matthew had been absent, and as the dinner progressed, he realized that the things he would normally find annoying about Matthew were just completely endearing. Matthew may have snorted when he laughed but it was one of the most genuine laughs Gilbert had ever heard. He may have winced with every sip he took of the wine but he never stopped trying to acquire the taste. And even when he wouldn't shut up about things Gilbert in all honesty did not care about, the way his eyes sparkled made it so Gilbert couldn't look away.

He was smitten.

When they left the restaurant they found a limo already waiting for them to take them to anywhere you want in the city. "Hey Matthew, have you ever been to Central Park?"

"No, I haven't." The question came as a bit of a shock. He had assumed that Gilbert would just want to go back to camp.

"Driver, take us there."

Matthew and Gilbert strolled down a path wordlessly. They couldn't stay too long because it was getting late. There were so many thoughts running through each of their heads that they were unable to put into words. So they just walked silently down the path, waiting for someone to break the silence.

"Matthew." Gilbert broke first. He wasn't very good at stuffing his feelings down. At least not without a single malt first. But despite the large bottle of premium cabernet sauvignon he had polished off, he was the perfect mix of sober enough to feel his feelings but tipsy enough to lack the common sense to keep them to himself.

"Yes Gilbert." They had stopped walking. Matthew had a bad feeling about this.

"Listen, I have something I have to say and it may make our relationship going forward a little bit awkward but I just have to get it out." Matthew had a really bad feeling about this. "I'm sure that you've heard that I know my way around a bedroom. I mean I've had my fair share of affairs and I'm only 16. But um, I have never really, y'know, felt like I wanted to be with someone outside the bedroom. In a relationship kind of way."

"You don't need to explain." Matthew's voice shook a bit. Clearly what Gilbert was trying to tell him was that he could tell that Matthew had feelings for him but he wasn't interested in returning them.

"No I do." Gilbert grabbed Matthew by the arm but quickly released it. "Shit, what I mean by that is. . . you're different. Like you're way different than everyone I've ever met. You don't care that I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt or that my dad has enough money to buy out Manhattan. You don't care that I'm probably the sexiest person alive or that I'm insanely talented."

"Modest too."

"You aren't from this world. . . but you're not intimidated by it." Gilbert paused. "You don't even know how amazing you are Matthew that even the great Gilbert Beilschmidt sometimes just sits in awe and wonders how you even exist. And I'm probably am ruining everything by saying this but I like you in a way that I have never liked anyone before. You aren't just one of the bros like Antonio and Francis, or someone I just want to have a one night stand with like- well we won't get into that. You're the kind of person I can see myself with- like with with. In a romantic sort of way. Shit this is getting out of hand. Fuck, what I'm saying to say is. . . I really like you Matthew."

What.

Matthew must have heard wrong. There was clearly no way that Gilbert had just said that he liked him. That was ridiculous. Gilbert Beilschmidt. . . liking him. Except those were the words he had said. Matthew's mind kept them playing on repeat. He had to say something. He had to respond somehow, even if he had simultaneously forgotten every word in the English language.

"Yes." He spoke without even thinking. It didn't exactly fit in the context. Shit he needed a follow up. "I mean, I feel the same way. Like not the exact same way because what you said was really specific and articulate and I can't do that right now but. . . I mean I think I like you too. No, I mean I really really like you

a lot."

"Then let's see where this will take us." Throughout the entire confession both boys had avoided eye contact but were now looking at each other straight on. "We don't have do anything serious like sign a prenup or change our relationship statuses on facebook but. . . I'd like to take you out on a date some time. Well another date."

"I'd like that." Matthew still wasn't quite processing things but as far as he was able to understand another date with Gilbert would be really nice.

"Now let's get back to camp before our friends burn down the place in an attempt to get us together." Gilbert joked.

Matthew looked genuinely concerned. "You don't think they would actually do that do you?"

Gilbert paused, thinking about what he had just said. "Yeah we need to get back to camp now."